


So Help Me

by ParanoidAndroid (HomesickAlien)



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Cray AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23291290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomesickAlien/pseuds/ParanoidAndroid
Summary: Dragons only breathe flames when content. Sparks flow as they purr; they have always been a support animal...
Relationships: Kai Toshiki/Sendou Aichi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	So Help Me

**Author's Note:**

> tired.

Between each reunion, their hearts grow fonder. 

In this very moment, it feels as though an eternity has passed since last they met. A warm endearment blossoms like lotus flowers over the river, as the world stops turning, their lives begin anew. Kai holds Aichi in his arms light as a spirit in his wake. Though many years have passed them both, now, Aichi’s eyes still hold within them an unwavering kindness. The innocence, the adoration, the _forgiveness_ of one too holy to touch his feet unto this baleful earth.

But there is proof of that reckoning hidden elsewhere within, carved into the flesh. The rugged touch of his otherwise dainty-like hands over the scales that align Kai’s cheeks, it’s uncanny by default, but grounding nonetheless. Aichi, too, is human, that much can’t be forgotten; There is no pedestal in this place even for the _Guardian Dragon’s_ favorite children. But Kai struggles to see his worth reflected through the looking glass. 

A mighty, powerful dragon of the Empire; A general of _Kagero—_ That is his title, but with Aichi hanging over him in Kai’s arms, he couldn’t feel any meeker than a kitten on the side of the road. For he who has seen through the eyes of man and myth, there must be a tightrope between them; No matter how high he flies, he’ll always fall short from touching the stars. He’ll always be so weak…

That weakness begets sins. And sins beget regret. But with each passing day since the word _love_ slipped his lips, these mortal fears, too, pass like the wind through his hair. And Aichi’s smile, no longer a divinity, but a simple proof of life. As true as the sun rises each morning, and the spring before the fall. 

And yet, there are things Aichi’s empyrean eyes never could reveal; An unspoken faith that never falters. A trust in Kai’s heart, his virtuous soul, to always grow ever stronger with every storm that tears apart their world. To always be at Aichi’s side, and there, too, might the will of Heaven and Earth become one. 

Just like that… Just like that… Just like that, Aichi slips from Kai’s grasp, to stand at equal footing, to pull at Kai’s back with a rugged Knight’s hand, to feather a touch that anyone might call a kiss but Kai. 

The Kai who is still so bashful, still so easily flustered, still incapable of _believing_ his hands are made for something greater than eternal repentance. For death, destruction, and everything between the ashes that fall to dust… That is the _flames of purgatory,_ the breath of a dragon that pulls away from humanity.

Aichi smiles kindly as Kai turns his head, his hand slowly getting lost in the messy fluff of Kai’s hair. _How long?_ Aichi mumbles, his attack relentless, though they are no longer rivals— His lips sending the words through Kai’s neck, a wonderful reverberation against his scales and flesh. “How long has it been since last we met? I was starting to worry it might not come again.”

Aichi’s been gone a long while, now. A mission, in the name of the Sanctuary, it’s a call he can’t refuse. Since Ahmes retirement, Aichi’s taken the mantle of his mentor, and now stands tall as the new _Grandmaster_ of the Royal Paladins. So beloved and doted on, even in his late years he may never surpass that shadow that engulfs him, and still he hasn’t a single despair to speak of. 

Kai, on the other hand, has many; He feels like a dragon capturing princess. All he wants is to settle down, to find peace in what short time he shares in this mortal vessel with a human he adores— _with Aichi._ In their youth, they were fearless. In their youth, every battle between them sparked passion, an adrenaline only understood by immature children, but as veterans of so many wars, so many tremors that have since befallen Cray…

“Too long, I’d say. And still, you look the same.”

Kai’s smile is unbearable; Aichi can play it cool all he likes, that simple gesture strikes arrows straight through his heart every single time. And though he refrains from clutching his own chest, he does let his head fall into Kai’s. _Laughing._ What a beautiful sound Kai hoards for himself, like an oasis in the desert that is this barren place they’d first rendezvoused. 

“I guess it’s like everyone always says to me— _Aichi is Aichi._ In fifty years that hasn’t changed, but you aren’t much different.” 

“Is that so…”

“It is.”

Kai pulls Aichi tighter in his loving embrace; The warmth that comes from the touch of his soulmate burning hotter than any flames that fester in his chest. So eternal, so cleansing as adoration washes over him; He takes the deepest breath he’s taken in his whole life, absorbing Aichi in all his senses. Although it isn’t all that pleasant after the moment of bliss passes— _Did you come all this way without stopping to shower? Your clothes are filthy. They're covered in gashes—_ So is his skin, actually. Anew, anew, these scars claim the once smooth skin of his lover, each one marking a journey passed. He’s still only human; Kai can disguise nearly any failure, but in Aichi every misstep is perennial. It isn’t a bad thing to explore, for another time as to not ruin the moment, anyway. Hungry as he is to devour Aichi whole, he’s patient, now. More reserved. His affection is subdued, to only this gentle purr that faintly passes his throat. 

“The sweetest sound in the world…”

Aichi mumbles; His hand slowly snake around Kai’s neck. And Kai’s wings, wrapped around them as to shield this intimacy from unworthy disciples. Even if it remains just like this…

Just their two bodies, pressed together, becoming one…

That’s the greatest fantasy of all. ‘ _Becoming one.’_

Kai is larger than life, in this form especially. A gargantuan dragon, oh, Aichi swears he gets bigger every time he returns home. The first time Aichi had seen Kai take this form, he had only been about twice Aichi’s size. Not much in size even for a human, certainly not for a dragon, but that moment was the first moment in Aichi’s life he’d fallen for Kai. Son of Overlord, a revered child of the Empire… To see a dragon so beautiful, with scales that reflect the deep red sun, a color deep as blood and love runs; Crimson scales no different than Overlord’s own. What a sight it had been, a fabled story for which desire is left only to be read by him.

They were dueling, then, but Aichi’s heart were racing for an entirely different reason. And now, though it’s still, the feeling remains. His hands reach out to Kai’s snout, laughing with innocence before the greenery of Heaven. It feels just like spring, where the dandelions speak for the future of a love that never falters in past or present. Oh, that a love could last forever, and it’s infatuation never fade… When the sparks of flames burst through Kai’s snout, a snort of endearment, his nose pressed to Aichi’s soft stomach, Aichi can’t help but laugh. Ahmes had once told Aichi that the love of dragon and human is little more than folklore, a myth told to kids in the Sanctuary that reminds them where once they came, but Aichi bears witness to it with his own eyes overflowing. What once was fairytale exists in their reality, the historic communion of two warring Nations, their leaders finding peace only in one another. 

There isn’t a single living creature, of the Empire or the Sanctuary, that could deny the happiness between them. Accept it they might not, but believe it they have no choice— The Dragon, Kai, and Aichi Sendou, a Knight pure— These two, they are…

_Don’t say it._

There’s no reason, for a word to define what they already know. For Aichi, this alone is enough. The content warmth of a flame that doesn’t burn, the soft sounds of a sanctuary above, Kai’s kind eyes and happy face only pleasured to be in Aichi’s presence…

His feelings are no different. But Aichi, he’s still human, and he still longs to speak in words rather than roars like dragons do.

“I love you, Kai. I truly love you.”

Kai’s love is impossible to understand. He’s foolish, and headstrong, and for so long his heart has burned with a loneliness he could never define. The memories of a person who is not him, of a life that’s already been lived. And for one so wonderful, for him to allow himself that blessing is… 

Is easier now than it’s ever been. The smile that tugs so high over the maw of the dragon, mouth agape that his tongue slips through, running softly over Aichi as to return that blessing. Those words unsung, a ceremony witnessed by none…

If tomorrow he says his farewells to Kai again, there will be no regrets. For every year that passes them in solitude, this fondness burns brighter. And in but a moment like the flicker of a light in the eyes of a human, this wish of eternity stays with him. And every night, he rests with ease, that Kai has wished him a pleasant dream, a promise of true love undying, and a peaceful _good night._

**Author's Note:**

> _It's unsung, and I say  
>  Goodnight, my love, to every hour in every day  
> Goodnight, always, to all thats pure that's in your heart_
> 
> Comment.


End file.
